Delivery expert system, method and computer program product

ABSTRACT

Embodiments disclosed herein can facilitate delivery of a document from a source to a destination over a network where an initial delivery attempt has been unsuccessful. Actions to be taken are based upon input conditions which may include a time-variable set of input conditions such as identifying non-business days and/or hours at the destination. The document can be a fax, an email, or a voice mail. The actions may include resubmitting the document to the network for a next delivery attempt, cancelling the document, sending a request to the source or destination for additional delivery information, identifying the destination as a technical problem, or a combination thereof.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/110,795, filed May 18, 2011, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/535,606, filed Aug. 4, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No.7,961,344, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/828,408, filed Jul. 26, 2007, now abandoned, which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/662,858, filed Sep. 15, 2003, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,265,861, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/739,625, filed Oct. 29, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No.6,747,761, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure concerns delivery of facsimile (fax) documents over avalue added network, such as a store-and-forward network, and moreparticularly to an automated and integrated method and apparatus tofacilitate delivery of a fax document after an initial delivery attemptis unsuccessful.

BACKGROUND

As a mechanism to carry information over long distances,store-and-forward (S&F) networks offer an efficient, low-costalternative to the existing public switched telephone network (PSTN). Ingeneral, S&F networks operate parallel to, and are accessed by, thePSTN.

FIG. 1 shows schematically PSTN 30 and S&F network 80 connected inparallel between a source fax machine 10 and a destination fax machine70. An autodialer 12, positioned between the source fax machine and PSTN30, designates incoming faxes for transmission over either the PSTN 30or S&F network 80. If for example the destination of the incoming fax isnot one serviced by the S&F network, then the autodialer dials thedestination fax number directly to the local exchange 32; the call isthen carried in a normal fashion by the PSTN 30 to the destination faxmachine 70. In contrast, if the number is one serviced by the S&Fnetwork, the autodialer dials the telephone number corresponding to thatof the source network node 20. The local exchange 32 then routes thecall through the PSTN to the source node. (Note that, depending upontheir proximity, the source fax machine 10 and the source network node20 maybe served by the same or different local exchanges.) Once it hascompletely received the document, the source node 20 transfers it to thedestination network node 40 over dedicated circuit 60. At this point,the destination node 40 dials the destination fax number to its localexchange 36 which in turn transfers the call via the PSTN to thedestination fax machine 70. (Note again that, depending upon theirproximity, the destination fax machine 70 and the destination networknode 40 may be served by the same or different local exchanges.)

In summary, transport of information from the source fax machine to thedestination fax machine using the S&F network requires three distinctsteps:

-   -   (1) from the source fax machine to the source network node via        the PSTN;    -   (2) from the source node to the destination node via dedicated        circuits; and    -   (3) from the destination node to the destination fax machine,        again via the PSTN.

Store-and-forward networks offer a number of significant advantages overstandard telephone networks for transport of facsimile. For example, afax document can be carried 16 times more efficiently using packettechnology employed by S&F networks. A common annoyance in telephony isthe inability to complete a call, usually because the destination deviceis busy or does not answer. Although sophisticated voice mail systemshave been designed to overcome this problem in voice telephony, similarpractical and cost effective solutions do not exist for fax. S&Fnetworks offer a viable solution. A properly implemented S&F networkwill employ a sufficiently large number of telephone circuits such thata customer fax machine never encounters a busy signal. At thedestination end, it is a common practice to design into S&F networks theability to automatically redial those call attempts which encounter“busy” or “no-answer” signals. Normally, the calls are redialedperiodically over a fixed interval of time, every ten minutes for a halfhour, for example.

Since multiple messages are typically coursing through an S&F network atany point in time, it is important to have some mechanism to monitor thelocation and status of each. For example, in one known S&F network, asmall data file called an envelope is created to track each fax documentas it moves through the network. The source node creates the envelopeafter it receives an incoming fax document. As the fax document movesthrough the network, the envelope moves between the network devices andreceives continuous updates regarding the status of the fax. Thisenables substantially real-time monitoring of the fax delivery process.

In the known S&F network, upon concluding the delivery attempt process,the destination network node declares the fax document either“delivered” or “not delivered”; it records the status in thecorresponding envelope which is then returned to the source node. If thedelivery was successful, the envelope is forwarded to a historicaldatabase (HD) which provides a basis for constructing customer bills. Ifthe delivery was not successful, the envelope is forwarded to a deliveryassist system (DAS) for further processing. DAS is a database managementsystem which provides a human operator, the document delivery analyst,with the delivery history and options for resubmission to the network ofthe document in question. One of the possible actions the analyst maytake is to assign the fax document to an alternate destination number,i.e., one provided by either the sender or the receiver.

While the delivery analyst (human operator) enables the network providerto arrange delivery of most fax documents, and to provide the customerwith an on-going report on alternative delivery attempts, the cost ofproviding such services are substantial. Furthermore, as the amount oftraffic on the network increases, the number of documents requiringassistance increases, and it becomes more and more difficult to providesuch human-assisted delivery on a timely and cost-effective basis.

The alternative delivery attempts which the prior art network can makeby itself to deliver a document are quite limited. For example, a faxcard with hard coded instructions may be provided in each network nodewhich, based on call progress tones heard on the network, may institutean automatic retry. The sounds which may be heard include:

-   -   ring, no answer;    -   busy;    -   voice.

Generally, the device automatically retries a number of times in a giventime period or cycle, e.g., every five minutes for a half hour, and ifdelivery is still unsuccessful, the document is transferred to a humananalyst.

Thus, the prior art automatic retry device provides a fixed responsebased on a response received to a first delivery attempt. This systemhas limited utility and most documents with delivery problems end upbeing sent to a human analyst. As previously indicated, the cost ofproviding such human analysts are escalating as the amount of networktraffic steadily increases.

SUMMARY

A method is provided for facilitating delivery of a fax document from asource to a destination over a network, when an initial delivery attempthas been unsuccessful. The method includes the step of initiating arule-based process to determine a next action based on a time-variableset of input conditions to the process.

For example, the input conditions may be determined from one or more of:

-   -   destination;    -   source;    -   database of past delivery attempts; and    -   human analyst.

Based on these input conditions, the process determines a next actionwhich causes a next delivery attempt, and if the next delivery attemptis not successful, the process is repeated.

The next action may include one or more of:

-   -   resubmitting the fax document to the network for a next delivery        attempt;    -   canceling the document;    -   sending a request to the source or destination for additional        delivery information; and    -   identifying the destination as having a technical problem.

Where additional information is requested, the responses received are afurther input condition and the process then redetermines a next actionbased on the new input conditions.

In particular embodiments, the input conditions may include anidentification of non-business days at the destination. The non-businessdays may be categorized by one or more of the country (in which thedestination is located), region, and destination number. Inputconditions may also include an identification of the non-business hoursat the destination.

The process may be implemented by traversing a hierarchical decisiontree, namely a data structure graph with one starting point known as aroot and many end points known as leaves. Rules control the movementthrough the decision tree. The rules determine where to get informationand how to compare that information to pick an appropriate path in thedecision tree. An action is a leaf of the decision tree.

The rules consist of two parts, conditions and actions. Once a conditionis met, an action or series of actions is triggered. The hierarchicaltree may be constructed as a series of hierarchical tables, wherein eachtable will contain a set of rules with unique conditions. The top ruletable will be searched first to determine if a corresponding conditioncan be matched. Once a match is found, the system will then handle thedocument accordingly.

The input conditions consist of attributes equaling a certain value.Some of the common attributes which may be used are response, cycle,destination business hours, delivery instruction, past action taken, andalternative network tried. Generally, the conditions will be unique suchthat each situation will find only one or no matches in a particulartable.

In accordance with the apparatus disclosed herein, an integrated andautomated document handling system is provided for facilitating deliveryof a fax document from a source to a destination in a network. Thesystem includes an automated rule-based process for determining anaction based on a set of time-variable input conditions. The inputconditions may be derived from one or more of the destination, thesource, a database of past delivery attempts, and a human analyst. Theoutput from the rule-based process causes a predetermined action basedon a predetermined set of input conditions.

These and other features and benefits of the disclosure will be moreparticularly described in regard to the following detailed descriptionand figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an S & F network disposed inparallel to a PSTN;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a delivery expert system (DES),which includes a rule-based process which receives input conditions fromother components of the system and determines a next action forfacilitating delivery of a fax document;

FIG. 3 is a high-level flow chart showing by way of example a hierarchyof four tables which are implemented as a rule-based process todetermine the next action;

FIG. 4 is a more detailed flow chart of an alternative number table;

FIG. 5 is a more detailed flow chart of an investigation table;

FIG. 6 is a more detailed flow chart of a research table;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart summarizing the alternative steps of a set ofintelligent retry tables;

FIG. 8 is a more detailed flow chart of the intelligent retry table for“defer end, wrong destination, fax tone”;

FIG. 9 is a more detailed flow chart of the intelligent retry table for“no answer and busy”;

FIG. 10 is a more detailed flow chart for the intelligent retry tablefor “broken connection 0/0 and modem”;

FIG. 11 is a more detailed flow chart of the intelligent retry table for“temporarily out-of-order, live person, no alternative, telefax”;

FIG. 12 is a more detailed flow chart of the intelligent retry table for“answering machine & voice mail”;

FIG. 13 is a more detailed flow chart for the intelligent retry tablefor “out-of-service”; and

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a central processing unit andmemory for use in this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One of the major advantages of the delivery expert system (DES) andmethod disclosed herein is a reduction in the cost associated withdocuments requiring assisted delivery. The system is automated in that adocument is owned by the delivery expert system and comes out ofautomation only for steps that need human intelligence and thenautomatically goes back to the control of the delivery expert system.

Decisions are made by the DES based on rules. Rules consist of twoparts, conditions and actions. Once a condition is met an action orseries of actions is triggered. Each table will contain a set of ruleswith unique conditions. When an envelope associated with a non-delivereddocument enters the DES, an attempt is made to match the non-deliverycondition with a corresponding condition in the rule table. Once a matchis found, the DES will then handle the document accordingly. If no matchis found, DES passes the envelope on to a delivery analyst. The systemis designed to be robust and scalable.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the integrated and automatednature of the system. The rule-based process is located in the centerbox 72, surrounded by four components which provide both inputs to therule-based process, denoted by arrows directed toward the center box,and outgoing actions, directed to one of the four outer boxes.

The left hand box 73, designated “Historical Knowledge”, is a databaseof past delivery information. This embodiment includes historicalrecords which describe all past delivery attempts of all documents to agiven destination number. Also included are records describing the pastdelivery attempt (cycle) of a given document. This information isprovided by the envelope created for each fax document as it enters thenetwork and which is updated with delivery information as the documenttravels through the network. The historical knowledge (prior deliveryinformation) comprises the input conditions that are supplied to therule-based process for determining a next action.

The lower box 74 designated “Delivery Communication” includes requestssent to the source or destination for additional delivery information,and the response thereto; again it provides additional input conditionsto the rule-based process. For example, a source (customer) may becontacted via fax with a request to provide an alternative number forthe destination of a non-delivered document. The rule-based process mayautomatically initiate the generation of such request when certainconditions are met during traversal of the rule-based decision tree.Generally, the response would be provided to both the rule-based processand to the historical knowledge database.

Another possible input condition is a new delivery instruction (NEW DI)sent by the customer (with or without a request). Upon receipt, therule-based process may automatically flag all documents affected by theNEW DI so that the NEW DI is implemented as the next action (beforetraversing the other portions of the decision tree). For example, in aparticular embodiment, a process scans a database of NEW DI records todetermine if any new delivery information is available. The search isbased on any delivery information that has been added to the systemsince the last time a given record was modified. If new information isfound, the record is placed in a delivery assist envelope table with astatus of “NEW DI”. This record is then sent to the DES rules engine todetermine an appropriate action based on the new information.

The right-hand box 75 designated “DA Services” represents all steps thata delivery analyst (human operator) may take and then pass his/herfindings to the DES. These steps may be separated into three categories:(1) steps which require the delivery analyst to gather more informationso that the DES can make the next decision; (2) steps which require thedelivery analyst to take action outside a document, such as sending arequest to a destination or source for further information; and (3)steps where the conditions are not yet defined in the rules and adocument will need to be manually handled.

In the first category, where the delivery analyst gathers moreinformation which it passes back to the DES, there are included theprocess steps of investigation, research and technical. Investigation isa step where a fax number is called because an unidentified responseneeds clarification. For example, the DES passes a document to DAservices because of a rule that says to pass back undefined voiceresponses with an investigate status. The delivery analyst then callsthe fax number and if he/she hears an “out-of-service” recording, thedelivery analyst redefines the response to be an “out-of-service”recording, and passes this response back to the DES. The DES then findsthe appropriate rule to handle “out-of-service recording” documents andthe DES takes the appropriate action.

In another example, the human operator may call a fax number and theresponse is a live person. In this case, the investigation turns intoresearch and all information listed under research needs to be passedback to the DES.

Research is the step where a voice number is called to research thecause of a failed delivery attempt and determine a solution. Forexample, the delivery analyst may call a voice number and get analternate fax number. The delivery analyst will then type in thealternate fax number and pass the information to the DES that researchis complete with an alternate number. The DES would then immediatelyresubmit the document to the alternate number based on the rules.Alternatively, if the delivery analyst had called the voice number andgot no answer, the delivery analyst would pass to the DES that he/shegot no answer. The DES would then, based on the predefined rules, retrythe document for a certain period until the next condition to researchagain or another action came up.

Note that investigate and research could happen at the same time so thesystem must be able to pass all appropriate information back no matterwhat was the original reason the DES contacted the delivery analyst.

Technical is the step where certain documents need to be passed to adelivery analyst for control because of technical problems. As anexample, there are areas of India where a fax tone sounds like a busysignal (to a U.S. human analyst). This region should be flaggedproactively so that any documents going to this region will beautomatically retrieved and appropriate pauses added to the dialingpattern to insure delivery to the destination number.

In other cases, a document having a technical problem may be flagged ona reactive basis. For example, a document for which the network providercontinually receives a broken connection response on the same page isoften due to the page having too many scan lines. In this case, thedelivery analyst will call the customer and request that the page beresent.

Returning to FIG. 2, the upper box 76 designated “DestinationInformation” includes a database known as the World Fax Phone Book whichincludes alternative delivery instructions. In addition, there isprovided an electronic calendar which tracks holidays for every countryin the world, and a business hours system that tracks the standardbusiness hours for every country in the world. In a preferredembodiment, the holidays and/or business hours are recorded at differentlevels, such as based on the region, country, or individual destinationnumber.

By way of example, every December, the director of document delivery(human operator) executes a process to input holiday dates for theupcoming year. The default holidays, for which the dates do not varyfrom year to year, are automatically carried forward from the precedingyear. Holidays that do not fall on the same date each year must beupdated manually by entering the appropriate date. Each record,accessible by the user, may include the country, year, holiday date, anddescription, as set forth in the following examples; two records areshown, the first being the result of querying based on country, and thesecond being the result of querying based on date:

Results of Querying on Country:

Holiday Tracking Country: USA Year: 1996 Holiday Dates Description Jan.1, 1996 New Year's Day May 30, 1996 Memorial Day Jul. 4, 1996 July 4thSep. 1, 1996 Labor Day Nov. 24, 1996 Thanksgiving Feb. 25, 1996Christmas Day

Results of Querying on Date:

Holiday Tracking Date: 1/1/96 Country Description USA New Years DayJapan New Years Day Canada New Years Day

Similarly, the country business hours tracking system allows thedocument manager to specify standard business hours for every country(region and/or destination) in the world. The record specifies the hoursthe businesses are open versus closed for each day of the week. Byspecifying an open or closed value for each of the 24 hours, thisprovides flexibility in specifying odd closure hours (that is, lunch,half days on weekends, etc.). The user may query this information basedon country and/or day of the week. A sample record is set forth belowwhere O=open and C=closed:

Business Hours Day of the Week: MONDAY Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 USA C C C C C C C O C O O O O O OO O O O O C C C C Korea C C C C C C C O C O O O O O O O O O O O C C C CItaly C C C C C C O O C O O O O O O O O O O O O C C C Japan C C C C C CC O C O O O O O O O O O O O C C C C

In a particular embodiment described herein, the delivery expert systemmay be implemented as a network server with the following fourcomponents:

-   -   service entity;    -   management agent;    -   network API;    -   database API.

The service entity contains the rule-based process and is responsiblefor receiving envelopes, determining courses of action, and carrying outthe actions. The supported actions may include:

-   -   Defer Delivery—Defers the attempted delivery until a later time.    -   Resubmit Document—Resubmit the document for delivery. The        document can also be routed to an alternate network.    -   Terminate Document—Stop attempting delivery.    -   Schedule Request—Schedule a request for additional delivery        information and send to source or destination.    -   Insert into Historicals Table—Inserts the envelope data into the        business systems historicals table.    -   Insert into Non-Deliv Table—Inserts the envelope into the        business systems' non-deliv table for delivery assistance.

As stated earlier, rules consist of two parts, conditions and actions.Once a condition is met an action or series of actions is triggered.Each table will contain a set of rules with unique conditions. When afailed delivery attempt occurs, the top rule table will be traverseduntil a corresponding condition can be matched. Once a match is foundthe DES will then handle the document accordingly.

Conditions consist of attributes or parameters equaling a certain value.

Some of the common attributes include response, cycle, destinationbusiness hours, instruction type, past actions taken, and alternativenetwork tried.

The values of attributes will use common logical signs such as equal,does not equal, greater than, less than, as well as a fixed number ortext string. In addition, the value of attributes utilize true and falselogic. For example, in order to see if a broken connection is occurringon the last page of a document, the condition can be set up as:

-   -   attribute: “maximum pages delivered”    -   value: “total pages−1”

Conditions are unique in that each finds only one or no matches in atable. A met condition evokes an action. Some actions involve actualhandling of the document such as resubmitting the document to thenetwork or sending the document to a delivery analyst; other actions maytrigger the sending of a request to a customer or destination foradditional delivery information. Multiple actions may take place.

An action can be placed on “hold” (i.e., deferred) until it is triggeredby a future event or time. This is illustrated in greater detail by theexamples below.

Instead of putting all of the rules into one huge table, it is easier toorganize the rules into several tables based on the conditions in thattable. When a document needs delivery assistance, the process willsearch the first table to see if there is a matched condition. If thecondition is matched the appropriate action would be taken; if not, theDES would then search the next table.

In one example, three types of tables may be provided in a hierarchy.For example, a standard rules table may be set proactively (i.e., priorto this specific document experiencing a problem). The table may betraversed in the following sequence:

-   -   destination number;    -   country or region;    -   general default.        The general default table would be used for most cases.

As an additional example, a temporary rule table may be based ontemporary instructions received from the customer on how to handle thisparticular document or destination number. Again, there may be threetables accessed in the following sequence:

-   -   document;    -   customer and destination number;    -   destination number.

The rules may be set up by the delivery analyst while servicing adocument or while a document is out in the network.

As a further specific embodiment, FIG. 3 illustrates a portion of ahierarchy rules list (decision tree) according to one embodimentdisclosed herein. Four steps have been identified in the followingsequence:

-   -   alternate number 80;    -   investigation 82;    -   research 84;    -   retry 86.

A document would go through these rules in the designated order. A moredetailed description of the rules is set forth in FIGS. 4-13 anddescribed below.

The following abbreviations are used in the figures described below:

-   -   BC broken connection    -   DAC delivery analyst center (i.e., human operator)    -   BH business hours    -   FBH first business hours    -   LBH lunch business hours    -   INV investigation    -   WFPB world fax phone book    -   HISTORICAL record of past delivery information of all documents        to a given destination number    -   DOCTRACT record of delivery information for last delivery        attempt (cycle) of this document    -   DOC fax document    -   DN document track notes    -   CST current standard time for destination    -   TECH technical    -   NW network    -   NBH non-business hours    -   BZ busy    -   NO ALT no alternative    -   PG page    -   DES delivery expert system    -   BC0/0 broken connection with no page delivered    -   ALT # alternate number    -   DA delivery analyst    -   PBH public business hours    -   OOS out of service

FIG. 4 illustrates the alternative number table, wherein the rules checkthe active destination number status, customer-provided alternativenumbers, and network provided alternate numbers. In summary, FIG. 4describes the following process:

-   1. Check for documents, of which alternate numbers with “Active”    status have been used:    -   send to DAC (human operator) so that DAC can make a decision on        which number should be retried based on NW response and history        of each number.-   2. Check for documents with Active Alternate numbers which have not    been used yet:    -   If the retry time period is over and the next step after the        retry time has been specified by the DAC (human operator) as        “Reroute”,        -   reroute to the most recent alternate number.    -   If a new alternate number is provided by a Customer or Network        since a document came into the Network,        -   reroute to the new alternate number immediately.    -   If any automatic alternate numbers are provided by a customer or        network previously,        -   reroute to the customer-provided numbers in a consecutive            order, and then reroute to network-provided numbers.    -   If any delay alternate numbers exist, and two business hours        since first retry have passed,        -   reroute to the customer-provided numbers in a consecutive            order, and then reroute to network-provided numbers.

FIG. 5 shows the investigation table which detects a voice response anda broken connection response. In summary, FIG. 5 describes the followingprocess steps:

-   1. Check for NW response of Voice or Broken Connection with 0 pages    delivered.    -   For Voice response, check if the destination is open:        destination hours are Business Hour, Lunch and Possible Business        Hours.    -   For Broken Connection Response, check if there is no history of        previous delivery.-   2. If above, send to DAC (human operator) to perform an    Investigation Action. Based on the DAC's investigation result, DES    will make an intelligent retry decision.

FIG. 6 is the research table showing the actions taken based on theresearch results. In summary, FIG. 6 describes the following processsteps:

-   1. Check for a DA's Research Action in the previous cycles.    -   If there is no Research Action found, check for documents that        have been tried for two business hours or more.        -   Send the found documents to DAC (human operator) to perform            a Research Action.    -   If there is a Research Action found, check for the research        results in the previous cycles:        -   If the result was no answer, busy, or “cannot reach            information service”, try two more hours and then send to            DAC (human operator) to perform a Research Action again.        -   If the result was “destination received the whole document            already” or “destination does not want us to try again”,            send to DAC (human operator) to perform a Technical Action.-   2. Based on the DAC's research results, DES will make an intelligent    retry decision.

FIG. 7 is a sequential list of the intelligent retry tables according toone embodiment, which includes:

-   -   Defer End Action 90;    -   Wrong Destination 91;    -   Fax Tone 92;    -   NW Response Voice in NBH 93;    -   NA, BZ, Other, AT&T 94;    -   BC 0/0 and Modem 95;    -   Temporarily Out Of Order, Voice No Alt, Telefax 96;    -   Answering Machine and Voice Mail 97;    -   Out of Service 98.

The retry tables are described in greater detail in FIGS. 8-13.

FIG. 8 shows the intelligent retry table for a deferred end action, awrong destination, and a fax tone. In summary, FIG. 8 describes thefollowing process steps:

-   1. Check for next step actions after the Defer End Time is over.    -   If specified action at the Defer End time is “Terminate”,        -   terminate automatically.    -   If specified action at the Defer End time is “Return to DES”,        -   send documents to DES so that DES can make an intelligent            retry decision.    -   If specified action at the Defer End time is “Return to DAC”,        -   send documents to DAC so that human operators can make a            decision.-   2. Check result of previous Research Actions.    -   If research result is wrong destination,        -   defer every two hours to check for the timing to provide            communication services to the customer. If it's the time to            provide, DES will send Action Reports of Delivery            Instruction Request to Account Managers.    -   If research result is a fax tone,        -   resubmit to network immediately.-   3. Check for NW Response of Voice and destination is closed:    -   defer until 30 minutes after the first business hour of the next        day and retry again.

FIG. 9 describes the intelligent retry table for an NA or BZ response.In summary, FIG. 9 describes the following process steps:

-   1. Check for NW response of NA or BZ.-   2. Check for Non Business Day and for Open Business Hour.    -   If the destination day and hour is following, defer twenty        minutes and then retry.        -   Open Business Day and Business Hour, Lunch, or Possible            Business Hour.    -   If the destination day and hour is following, defer one hour and        then retry.        -   Open Business Day and Non Business Hour.        -   Non Business Day and Business Hour, Lunch, or Possible            business Hour.    -   If the destination day and hour is following, defer three hours        and then retry.        -   Non Business Day and Non Business Hour.    -   If the destination day and hour is following, defer five hours        and then retry.        -   Long Non Business Day and Non Business Hour.

FIG. 10 illustrates the intelligent retry table for a broken connectionor modem response. In summary, FIG. 10 describes the following processsteps:

-   1. Check for NW response of Broken Connection with 0 page delivered    or Voice with the investigation result of modem.-   2. Check for Non-Business Day and for Open Business Hour.    -   If the destination day and hour are following, defer two hours        and then retry.        -   Open Business Day and Business Hour.    -   If the destination day and hour are following, defer for 30        minutes after First Business hour and then retry.        -   Open Business Day and Non Business Hour;        -   Non Business Day and Non Business Hour (including lunch, and            possible business hour); or        -   Long Non Business Day and all types of business hours            (including business hour, lunch, possible business hour, and            non business hour).    -   If the destination day and hour are following, defer five hours        and then retry.        -   Non Business Day and Business Hour.

FIG. 11 is the intelligent retry table for a temporarily out of order,live person (with no alternative number) or a telefax response. Insummary, FIG. 11 describes the following process steps:

-   1. Check for NW response of voice with the investigation result of    Live Person (with no alternative number).    -   if the Detail Problem Description of the result is:        -   “Resubmit Now”, retry now.        -   “Temporarily Out of Order for 20 minutes”, defer 20 minutes            and then retry.        -   “Temporarily Out of Order for 1 hour”, defer one hour and            then retry.        -   “Temporarily Out of Order for 2 hours”, defer two hours and            then retry.        -   “Temporarily Out of Order for 4 hours”, defer four hours and            then retry.        -   “Temporarily Out of Order until next day”, defer till 30            minutes after First Business Hour and then retry.

FIG. 12 is the intelligent retry table for an answering machine and/orvoice mail response. In summary, FIG. 12 describes the following processsteps:

-   1. Check for NW response of voice with the investigation result of    Answering Machine or voice mail recording.-   2. Check for Non Business Day and for Open Business Hour.    -   If the destination day and hour is following, defer two hours        and then retry.        -   Open Business Day and Business Hour (including lunch, and            Possible Business Hour).    -   If the destination day and hour is following, defer until 30        minutes after First Business Hour and then retry.        -   Open Business Day and Non Business Hour; or        -   Non Business Day (includes Long Non-Business Day) and Non            Business Hour, Lunch, or Possible business Hour.    -   If the destination day and hour is following, defer five hours        and then retry.        -   Non Business Day and Non Business Hour.

FIG. 13 is the intelligent retry table for an out of service response.In summary, FIG. 13 describes the following process steps:

-   1. Check for NW response of voice with the investigation result of    Local Telecom Out of Service Recording.-   2. Check for Non Business Day and for Open Business Hour.    -   If the destination day and hour is following, defer five hours        and then retry.        -   Open Business Day and Business Hour, Lunch, or Possible            Business Hour.    -   If the destination day and hour is following, defer until 30        minutes after First Business Hour and then retry.        -   Open Business Day and Non Business Hour;        -   Non Business Day of all types of business hours (including            business hour, lunch, possible business hour, and non            business hour); or        -   Long Non-Business Day and all types of business hours.

The functionality of the DES system can be achieved in softwareapplications executing on standard PC platforms.

Various features of the invention may be implemented using a generalpurpose computer 161 as shown in FIG. 14. The general purpose computermay include a computer processing unit (CPU) 162, memory 163, aprocessing bus 164 by which the CPU can access the memory, and interface165 to the network.

The invention may implement a memory, such as a floppy disk, compactdisc, or hard drive, which contains a computer program or datastructure, for providing to a general purpose computer instructions anddata for carrying out the functions of the specific embodiment.

The parameters of the above process may be varied as desired to obtain aparticular cycle time, i.e., a cycle being one pass through therule-based process. For example, the number of retry attempts uponreceipt of a busy, no answer, nonfax, voice or other signal can bepredetermined and will effect the cycle time. Each cycle provides anopportunity for a change in the input conditions and thus a newrule-determined action (output) on the next cycle. A balance may besought between the time per cycle and the number of cycles to maximizeefficient resolution of most delivery assisted documents withoutextensive processing time or network overhead traffic.

In other embodiments, the system may be used for other message deliverysuch as delivery of E-mail (electronic mail) or voice mail over an S&Fnetwork. Thus, as used herein, the term document may include a faxdocument or other message such as an E-mail or voice mail message.

These and other modifications and improvements of the disclosure will beunderstood by a person skilled in the art and are intended to beincluded within the scope of the claimed invention.

1. A method of facilitating delivery of a document from a source to adestination over a network when an initial delivery attempt has beenunsuccessful, comprising: initiating a rule-based process to determine anext action based on a set of input conditions to the rule-basedprocess, wherein the set of input conditions comprises a time variableset of input conditions, and wherein the time variable set of inputconditions comprises an identification of non-business time at thedestination.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the non-businesstime at the destination comprises non-business days at the destination.3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the non-business time at thedestination comprises non-business hours at the destination.
 4. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the non-business time at the destinationis categorized by a country in which the destination is located, aregion in which the destination is located, a destination number, or acombination thereof.
 5. A method according to claim 1, whereinattributes for the set of input conditions comprise response, cycle,destination business hours, delivery instruction, past action taken, andalternative network tried.
 6. A method according to claim 1, wherein anoutput from the rule-based process causes a predetermined action basedon a predetermined set of input conditions.
 7. A method according toclaim 1, wherein the rule-based process is implemented by traversing ahierarchical decision tree and wherein rules control movement throughthe hierarchical decision tree.
 8. A method according to claim 7,wherein the hierarchical decision tree is constructed as a series ofhierarchical tables and wherein each of the hierarchical tables containsa set of rules with unique conditions.
 9. An integrated and automateddocument handling system for facilitating delivery of a document from asource to a destination in a network, the system comprising: a computerrunning a rule-based process for determining a next action based on aset of input conditions to the rule-based process, wherein the set ofinput conditions comprises a time variable set of input conditions, andwherein the time variable set of input conditions comprises anidentification of non-business time at the destination.
 10. Anintegrated and automated document handling system according to claim 9,wherein the non-business time at the destination comprises non-businessdays at the destination.
 11. An integrated and automated documenthandling system according to claim 9, wherein the non-business time atthe destination comprises non-business hours at the destination.
 12. Anintegrated and automated document handling system according to claim 9,wherein the non-business time at the destination is categorized by acountry in which the destination is located, a region in which thedestination is located, a destination number, or a combination thereof.13. An integrated and automated document handling system according toclaim 9, wherein attributes for the set of input conditions compriseresponse, cycle, destination business hours, delivery instruction, pastaction taken, and alternative network tried.
 14. An integrated andautomated document handling system according to claim 9, wherein anoutput from the rule-based process causes a predetermined action basedon a predetermined set of input conditions.
 15. A computer programproduct comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable mediumstoring instructions translatable by at least one computer processingunit to facilitate delivery of a document from a source to a destinationover a network when an initial delivery attempt has been unsuccessful,the instructions further translatable by the at least one computerprocessing unit to perform: initiating a rule-based process to determinea next action based on a set of input conditions to the rule-basedprocess, wherein the set of input conditions comprises a time variableset of input conditions, and wherein the time variable set of inputconditions comprises an identification of non-business time at thedestination.
 16. A computer program product according to claim 15,wherein the non-business time at the destination comprises non-businessdays at the destination.
 17. A computer program product according toclaim 15, wherein the non-business time at the destination comprisesnon-business hours at the destination.
 18. A computer program productaccording to claim 15, wherein the non-business time at the destinationis categorized by a country in which the destination is located, aregion in which the destination is located, a destination number, or acombination thereof.
 19. A computer program product according to claim15, wherein attributes for the set of input conditions compriseresponse, cycle, destination business hours, delivery instruction, pastaction taken, and alternative network tried.
 20. A computer programproduct according to claim 15, wherein an output from the rule-basedprocess causes a predetermined action based on a predetermined set ofinput conditions.